Ben Affleck Knows How You Feel About Him Playing Batman

Few casting announcements have raised the ire of the nation (or, at least, the Twittersphere) as much as the recent news that Ben Affleck would be donning the bat cape, playing the Batman to Henry Cavill’s Superman in the Man of Steel sequel. There were all sorts of complaints and jokes, many Daredevil-related, some Gigli-themed, others comparing him unfavorably to recent Caped Crusader Christian Bale. Even Affleck B.F.F. Matt Damon was queried about the casting, predictably throwing support behind his buddy (though also undermining him slightly, but that’s a different post for a different time). “It will be terrific,” Damon said. “I know there are a lot of people grousing on the Internet. I just think it’s kind of funny. You know he's not playing King Lear—it’s Batman! Certainly within his skill set.”

Well, now Affleck himself has spoken out about the “controversy,” as, on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night—after some softball questions about his kids—Fallon brought up the, erm, superhero in the room.

“I'm a big boy,” Affleck said. “They said [after the announcement] just don’t use the Internet for a couple of days. . . I handle s***. I’m very tough. I saw the announcement, I look down on the first comment. . . the first one just goes, ‘Nooooooooo!’” He added, after flashing an Affleckian toothy grin, “We’re gonna be Luddites for a while, kids.”

Affleck next recounted that after he had been cast, the studio showed him some “reactions,” of the negative variety, that previous actors cast in similar roles had received on the internet. “They send me [reactions for] people who were in these movies who did a great job and [the commenters would] say, ‘Kill himmmm!’” Affleck said. “You can't say that before a movie comes out. It doesn't matter what you think then, it matters what you think when you see the movie.”

At least Affleck can take solace in the fact that he has one fervent supporter; his 18-month son Samuel was photographed at a farmer’s market on Sunday sporting a snazzy blue Batman t-shirt.